a b o u t R o e l o f

Roelof Broekman is a composer, writer and video-artist from Amsterdam, The Netherlands. He composed music for companies, documentary, games and national television. He published a book of poetry: Azotum, and his novel In de Waitman was published by De Brouwerij: the fictional story about the descent of a motherless son confronted with a turmoil of religious and relational topics, as well as a mysterious car-accident of which the duration seems stretched to a year. His video-art has been screened in over 20 countries worldwide.

Roelof studied music ranging from rock to contemporary classical. Scroll down for his curriculum...

With written words, with video-art and through his music, Roelof wants to tell stories. Having produced novels and video-art he has an unique composite experience and insight in the role music plays with image, and even more important: it’s relation with the content of a story. For efficient use of the emotional strength of music a composer needs a proper understanding of human behavior, empathy, and feel for dynamic changes which occur in everyday life. Apart from being a very friendly guy who fits easily in a team, he is a very dedicated worker, driven by intrinsic motivation fueled by his love for music, movies, the written word and art in general. Roelof produces low cost highly effective orchestral music and beyond. Extremely significant for use in film, games and documentary.

Concerning modern composing techniques

For composing music I use the Vienna Symphony Library, developed in Vienna (Austria) by Herb Tucmandl. It contains all instrument groups of a big orchestra, a medium ensemble, as well as solo instruments. All these instruments have numerous articulations (staccato, sustain notes, trills, pizzicato) which can be triggered with an ingenious sample-player system. Also: each articulation contains several loudness levels, from p(ppp) to f(fff). All these samples are beforehand played live on a small stage and recorded, every individual note possible, in different articulations and loudness levels. Now the composer can trigger each individual recorded note by using a keyboard and a software program with a (piano) key editor. Playing a note on the keyboard triggers a specific recorded note of a chosen instrument, depending on which note you play (like a C# produces a C# of a violin, or a non-pitched percussion sound), and how hard you press the key (producing a p or an f).Then, when it comes to composing, it’s just the same old song, but in stead of working with a written score one can write notes using a (piano) key editor on the screen. This provides the opportunity to actually hear what you are writing: in real time. Every note you touch is instant audible.Also different from a written score is that it’s now possible to create a finished product. The players notes are already recorded: so it’s time to mix all the different instruments and articulations you have played on the keyboard like it’s been done in a studio for making a CD production: in my case for using it as the final score. In this way the composer becomes the conductor in spreading en balancing the sound. He also becomes the sound engineer at the same time, using reverb, limiters and equalizers to realize what he had in mind.Apart from these orchestral samples I use real electrical guitars, my voice and other sounds to complete the scores.